Posted tagged ‘NYC’

You know what they are. Handy little places to slip ‘important’ things. Things you don’t want to lose. Drawers that very quickly are over run with ‘important’ things. Drawers that you end up scrambling through to find that ‘thing’ you need. One of mine happens to be the drawer of my computer desk.

In my quest to do some badly needed deep, organizational cleaning of the corners of my house, I tackled that insidious drawer. What I thought would be an ominous task turned out to be a pleasantly needed trip down memory lane. Here are some of the things I found:

*More receipts and papers than one is EVER expected to save….including seven year old one for the Princess’ first two wheeler.

*6 teeny, tiny dice and 4 teeny, tiny frogs. I have tucked them in a little tin box to make a teeny, tiny game or two. : )

*Gigantic paperclips – bought them at Target one time because they are cool. Can’t bring myself to use them because I know they’ll be lost.

* A mother lode of different kinds of flash drives. (It’s a fetish of mine)

*Coin envelopes and clear ID card protectors that I used when I taught Kindergarten. Kept them. That stuff ALWAYS comes in handy.

*two different sized phillips screw drivers, two eyeglass repair kits and the tiniest little screw driver I have ever seen that won’t fit in an eyeglass repair kit. Have NO clue what it goes to but I’m keeping it.

*Another mother lode of sticker sheets – also used when I taught Kindergarten – which I stuck into an envelope for Rabbit. Not much but it’ll keep her busy for a few hours this summer.

*the missing key to the fire proof strong box we bought before leaving for Boston. I was certain there would be abreak in or a fire and all of our adoption/citizenship/birth certificates and what not would be gone. I am fearful like that.

*A whole passel of the newsletters I used to send to family when the Prince was a toddler. Dang but he was a funny little kid. Emotionally involved with a ……zucchini?

*Two nearly empty package of batteries for hearing aids I no longer use. Different sizes from the ones I need now. Pitched ’em.

*old Russian coins, a handful of pennies, Canadian coins and 4 old tokens for Chuck E Cheese….upon seeing which my 15 year old asks, “hey…when can we go there?” Riiiiight. I’ve done my duty in that noisy, overwhelming, pepperoni reeking realm.

*Pictures, pictures and MORE pictures. Tucked them away with all of the others I need to go through and file and scrapbook or…something. What are you supposed to do with pictures anyway?

*clear nail polish, a tube of some kind of prescription eye cream and two tubes of athletes’ foot cream. Two?

*Lego pieces…another fetish of mine. Not that I like to build with them or anything (although I have spent countless hours assembling and disassembling the Prince’s Lego soccer stadium in the past)…but I do like to have interesting pieces handy. Just ask my family about my jaw dropping to the floor at Disney Market Place’s Lego store. HUNDREDS of little drawers with MILLIONS of little pieces. Buy a container and you can put ANYTHING inside it and as much as you can fit. Heh. NEVER give me that challenge. Just ask the people at the Mr. Potato Head kiosk. I ALWAYS get my money’s worth. : )

*Four apostilled copies of the Princess’ final adoption follow up reports . When you drive to the state capital to get them done personally you might as well get a bunch. And I love knowing the word ‘apostille.’ It’s the kind of word that snakes it’s way around your tonuge and through your brain. Especially if you are working your way through an international adoption.

*The translation of a thank you letter sent to the Princess from her friends at the orphanage. Several months after bringing her home, we sent a box of goodies (Legos, candy, balloons, socks, Matchbox cars, etc.) with another couple going to the same orphanage .

*a print out of a short email from my deceased Grandmother about her father owning a ‘dray team’ when she was a child. Can’t remember why she sent it but yeah, my grandmother died when she as 97 and had used computers and e-mail regularly. It’s in my genes.

*An ‘Obama ’08’ button, an MEA membership button and a tin, heartshaped necklace ornament with the word ‘Mom’ inscribed…which I am sure came from an elementary school Holiday Shoppe.

*a battered, falling apart portrait of me as a four year old that my parents had drawn the night before I went to the hospital to have my tonsils removed. I seriously need to get it repaired. And framed.

*A Bible study guide for the book of Ephesians…which was my favorite Bible class when I was in college at Oklahoma Christian University…..way back when it was just Oklahoma Christian College.

*Ticket stubs for almost everything we did in Boston on last year’s GRAND summer vacation. Stuck them in one of the aforementioned coin envelopes. (see? It came in handy)

* a Playbill for ‘Three Changes’ – a play with Maura Tierney that I saw last fall on a FABULOUS 1st adventure to the Big Apple. Met her too. She’s very sweet to her fans.

*a print out of a story I posted YEARS ago on a Kindergarten Teachers’ web ring about a rough and tough little tomboy of a girl who kept hugging me all day after about a week of school. Couldn’t figure out why until she finally said she liked hugging me because ‘we make a really cool sound together.’ Hearing aid feed back. It’ll get you every time. : )

I found more stuff. LOTS more. And there were things I didn’t find. Like the recharger to my Kodak digital which I haven’t been able to use in like…forever. Dang. Or any of the 100 sharpened pencils that were there last fall. Not one. Or the gum packages that I tend to put there now and then. Gone.

And that’s the way of the Junk Drawer. Things come and things go. They tend to hold bits and pieces of your life, don’t they? And most everything has a story. ‘Important’ stuff. Kinda fun to sort through on a lazy, rain threatened day.

We were watching a dvd until about 10 minutes to midnight last night. We switched off the film and turned to the ABC Rockin’ Eve program to watch the ball drop in Times Square. It was very cool. It always is. To see the people filling the streets. The confetti. The noise. The snow…. And it was a little more thrilling for me when I realized that I had been there too. Times Square. It was just one of my ‘big city’ adventures this year.

The day after Thanksgiving, I dragged my semi-reluctant family to the Fox Theater in Detroit to see a professional production of ‘White Christmas.’ It was cute. Splashy. Colorful. Expensive. (And maybe…not nearly as good as the high school production of ‘Seussical the Musical’ we had seen the weekend before for about 1/4 the cost.) As we were driving through the nearly deserted streets after the show on our way back home, I was thinking about the fact that in the last eleven months I have spent a significant amount of time in Chicago, Detroit, Boston and New York. Big cities. That’s pretty amazing since I live in a fairly rural community in south east Michigan. Detroit is about a 50 minute drive for us. I used to go there a couple of times a year with a friend to shop at the Eastern Market, lunch in Greek Town and then cross the bridge to purchase baked goods at Columbo’s in Windsor’s Little Italy neighborhood. Good times. Great memories.

My family and I stayed in Detroit last spring while I attended the Michigan Reading Association’s convention at Cobo Hall. Sadly, there was very little for my family to do in the city while I was attending presentations and classes. They rode the People Mover a couple of times and visited a particular bakery in Greektown. There were no shops to visit. No bookstores or hobby shops or museums close by to visit. Everything was shut tight for the weekend. My children were actually fearful to get off the ‘beaten track’ when we went looking for a place to have dinner. Sad.

They all love Chicago. We have been there several times and never at any other time than February. Go figure. They like walking the streets looking for favorite shops…and some new ones. They like riding in cabs. They like the museums. They have never been afraid there. Never been fearful about getting off the ‘beaten track’ there. Our plan is to try the city in the summer some time soon. Heh.

Boston was a totally new trip for all of us. A HUGE adventure. We discovered that we like subway trains in Boston. That we like the Red Sox. That we like being on the water. That we have new and greater admiration for JFK. We would all go back to Boston in a heart beat. Boston rocks.

I had been trying to get to New York City since I was eight years old. My three day ‘adventure’ to see my favorite actress in a play was the highlight of my entire year….probably. And it wasn’t just catching up with an internet friend I had known but never met, the play and meeting Maura Tierney afterwards. I like the ‘music’ of New York….the pulse….the people….the action. Naw…scratch ‘like’ and insert ‘love.’ The Princess and I are planning a trip there together for her birthday in August. One thing is for certain, her trip will be an entirely different one that the one I took in September. We will see the Statue of Liberty this time – because she wants to. But we will sneak in a visit to the West Village bookstores, Morandi and the Magnolia Bakery for hummingbird cupcakes – because I want to.

When I think about our big city adventures, I am sad for the city of Detroit. So very sad. It appears that the music there has dwindled.

All About Me…..sorta

I am a Christian, Wife, Mother, Sister, Daughter, Stepmom and Teacher. My two internationally adopted All American kiddos are adults now but dragged me kicking and screaming into 'Soccer Momhood.' I miss it. I almost always have a novel in progress on my laptop. I abhorr housework and avoid it at all costs. Except for folding clothes. Somehow that relaxes me.
Go figure.....